Mumbai Crime: 12-yr-old bound, gagged, raped and strangled to death

Fresh on the heels of the news of the rape of a minor in Wadala on Saturday, it has now emerged that a mentally challenged girl was brutally raped and killed in Govandi on the same day, with a similar modus operandi

Not even a day after the shocking reports emerged of the rape of a nine-year-old in Wadala on Saturday, the Shivaji Nagar police are now on the lookout for another unidentified man who cruelly kidnapped, raped and then murdered a 12-year-old in Baiganwadi, Govandi (West) the very same day.

While the accused is as yet unidentified, the deceased victim’s brother suspects that a family member could be involved in his sister’s horrific abduction and death. He alleges that his uncle had visited their home the very evening that his sister went missing, and more suspiciously, that he left around the same time that she disappeared.

“There is already a criminal case against my uncle, so we suspect he might be involved, which we told the police. At around 5 pm on Saturday, my uncle came to look for me at home, as I hadn’t been going to work since a month. He also asked for my phone number, but my mother didn’t give it to him. He left our house around the same time my sister went missing,” he said.

The police, however, have said that they are examining all angles in the case. According to the victim’s family members, she was mentally challenged. On Saturday, she had come home after buying milk, and had made tea for her parents. She was playing outside her house when she went missing in the evening.

Her parents tried to search for her, but couldn’t find her anywhere, at which point they went to the police station around 10 pm. The next morning, her body was found rolled up in a mat at a garbage dump, close to Ambedkar Garden, near the old police chowky in the area.

Cop speakSangramsingh Nishandar, deputy commissioner of police (zone VI), told mid-day, “The girl went missing around 6 pm yesterday, and the parents came to lodge the complaint at midnight.”“The family lives in Baiganwadi, Shivaji Nagar. The girl’s body was found half a kilometre away from her house. A watchman-cum- sweeper saw the body at 5.30 am, when he had gone to work, and informed the police.

Police then called the family to Rajawadi Hospital to identify her. Investigations are underway. Our team is on the lookout for the accused. The girl was strangled to death by a dupatta, and her hands were also tied with cloth. There are many cloth shops in that area, so we suspect that one of those might be involved,” he added.

So far, both the mat she was found in, and the dupatta that was used to strangle her, have been recovered by the police. A local NGO worker following the case said, “The girl was brutally raped, and cotton wool was found stuffed in her mouth and in her private parts. She was murdered brutally, strangulated by the dupatta and her hands were also tied.

The area where the girl stays is not safe at all, as there are many drug users nearby. We don’t know whether one person is involved or more. Only the reports will tell.” Local residents gathered at the Shivaji Nagar police station on Sunday night, around 9.15 pm, to protest against the presence of drug users nearby, blaming them for a spate of violent incidents in the area.

Police search for Wadala rapistThe Wadala police have released the sketch of the accused in the kidnapping and rape case of a nine-year-old in Wadala. Based on the survivor’s description, police and the sketch artist developed the sketch to help intensify the investigations. The Crime Branch is also conducting parallel investigations in the matter.

The sketch of the accused was made with the help of the survivor’s description

Officials said the accused is between 20 to 25 years old. He was carrying a big Samsung mobile phone, and his breath smelled of cigarettes, indicating a smoker. An officer also said that the accused is not from the area, since he was not known to family members or others in the locality.